Part 6 crosses, lifts, and lowers the hands before slowly turning left and right with the feet in place. Return to face forward, then bring the hands back near the navel.
Prepare the hands before turning
Looking Behind (Wu Lao Qi Shang Xiang Hou Qiao) follows Part 5 with feet shoulder-width apart and fists before the navel. Open the hands, cross them, lift, and press down before turning. Keep the feet in place rather than adding the stance and opposite reaches from Part 5.
Directions refer to your own left and right.
Steps 1–5: open, cross, lift, and press down
- Prepare: feet shoulder-width apart, fists before the navel.
- Draw the palms apart: open the fists, palms upward, fingers extended, middle fingers facing each other. Draw the hands horizontally to the sides; pause briefly.
- Cross the hands: return to the navel and interlace the fingers, with the thumb tips touching each other and little-finger tips touching each other.
- Lift on the centre line: angle the palms slightly upward and lift in front of the chest toward the area between the nose and upper lip; pause briefly.
- Turn and press down: following the manual’s wording, turn palms downward and press along the centre line until the arms are straight, close to the body; pause briefly.
The sources differ at step 2: the manual says palms upward; the illustrated guide says palms inward. This article follows the manual. If a video differs, check its version with the teacher instead of combining both directions.
Steps 6–8: turn left, look behind, return
- Begin turning left: the manual cues relaxation, slightly lowered eyelids, and attention toward the nose tip. Keep the feet still and slowly turn the head and body left.
- Continue looking behind: pause briefly at the left shoulder, then continue turning backward with the gaze following the head.
- Return to the front: slowly bring the head and body back to the chest’s centre line.
Step 9: turn right
From the front, slowly turn right, pause briefly at the shoulder, continue looking behind, then return to the centre. Left and right make one round. Keep the crossed hands and palm direction from step 5, with the feet still. Turn the palms and lift the hands back to the navel only in step 10.
Step 10: face forward and bring the hands back
At the end of the part, bring the head back to the chest’s centre line, pause briefly, and slowly open the eyes. Turn the palms up, lift near the navel, then turn them inward.
Page 25 of the illustrated guide continues by separating the hands into fists, palm sides upward, before the navel. Check this transition into Part 7; turning and lifting the palms alone does not describe the complete next starting position.
Do the crossed hands open between left and right?
No new hand setup is inserted between the turns. Keep the crossed hands from step 5 while turning left, returning, and turning right. At step 10, turn and lift them back to the navel. Hand preparation, body turns, and the final hand return are three connected phases.
Review the hand route and body route separately
- Hands: draw apart → cross and lift → turn and press down → turn and lift back at the end.
- Head and body: front → left and behind → front → right and behind → front.
Match these routes to see where the hands remain during the turns. Then continue to Part 7, spreading wings and bending.
References and sources
- Babu Jingang Gong, Part 6: printed pages 86–95
Reference for Part 6 step numbers and wording. In this scan the PDF page count is 13 higher than the printed number; check the contents when using another scan.
- Illustrated Babu Jingang Gong, pages 23–26
Used to compare positions, routes, and grouping. Website diagrams were made separately; the guide’s photographs are not reproduced.
